Ford's F-Series Truck Caps 22nd Year in a Row as America's
Best-Selling Vehicle With a December Sales Record

- F-Series' December sales were 84,657 -- up 16 percent
compared with a year ago. - Lincoln posts first calendar year
sales increase since 2000. - Volvo sets new calendar year sales
record. - Ford's overall December sales were down 4 percent as
lower car sales offset record truck sales; full year sales also
off 4 percent. - Ford's O'Connor: Improving margins in North
America by focusing on retail business and selling a richer
product mix.

DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 5 -- Ford's F-Series truck, America's
best-selling vehicle for 22 years in a row and best-selling
truck for 27 years in a row, posted record December sales of
84,657, up 16 percent compared with a year ago. It was the
fourth month in a row F-Series achieved a double-digit sales
increase -- a streak that coincided with the introduction of
the all-new F-150. For the full year, F-Series sales totaled
845,586. In December, F-150 was named Motor Trend magazine's
Truck of the Year. Yesterday, F-150 was named North American
Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show
in Detroit.

"Without a doubt, the launch of the new F-150 has taken its
place among the very best in Ford's long history," said Jim
O'Connor, Ford group president, North America Marketing, Sales
and Service. "Bolstered by the confidence and excitement
created by the F-150, we're ready to launch the next wave of
new products."

Overall, U.S. customers purchased or leased 292,209 cars and
trucks from Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Jaguar, Volvo, and Land
Rover dealers in December, down 4 percent compared with a year
ago. Record truck sales (up 2 percent) were offset by lower
car sales (down 16 percent).

For the full year, the company's U.S. sales were 3.5
million, down 4 percent compared with a year ago. Higher truck
sales (up 1 percent) were offset by lower car sales (down 12
percent).

"Although overall sales were lower, we're improving margins
in North America by focusing on retail business and selling a
richer product mix," said O'Connor. "We'll continue with that
strategy in 2004."

In December, Lincoln sales were 14,889, up 9 percent
compared with a year ago. For the full year, Lincoln sales
were up 6 percent -- the first sales increase since 2000.
Lincoln is benefiting from new products in one of the
industry's fastest growing segments -- the market for premium
sport utility vehicles. In December, the redesigned Navigator
posted its highest sales month in history (4,989) resulting in
full year sales of 38,742, up 27 percent. The all-new,
mid-size Aviator achieved first year sales of 29,517. Lincoln
dealers sold nearly twice as many SUVs in 2003 as the previous
year.

Volvo also benefited from the introduction of a new premium
sport utility vehicle as it set a new calendar year sales
record. Volvo's full year sales totaled 134,586, up 22
percent. The award-winning XC90 sport utility vehicle achieved
its highest sales month ever (4,290) and became Volvo's
top-selling product in the U.S. in its first full year on
sale.

Other 2003 Sales Highlights

Ford was America's top-selling brand for the 17th year in a
row with sales of 2.9 million cars and trucks. In the 17-year
period from 1987 to 2003, Ford dealers sold over 52 million
cars and trucks to U.S. customers, almost 9 million more than
the next best-selling brand. Ford has best-selling products in
the following segments: full-size pickups (F-Series), compact
pickups (Ranger), sport utility vehicles (Explorer), full-size
vans (Econoline), and sports cars (Mustang). In addition, the
Ford Escape was the best-selling small sport utility vehicle
with record sales of 167,678, up 15 percent.

Mercury full year sales totaled 202,257, down 23 percent for
the year. Record sales for Mercury Mountaineer (49,692) and
higher sales for Grand Marquis were offset by the impact of
discontinued products (Villager and Cougar) and lower fleet
sales.

Jaguar and Land Rover full year sales were slightly lower
than 2002 when each brand reported record U.S. sales. Both
Jaguar and Land Rover achieved substantial improvements in
their sales mix after introducing all-new flagship products.
Jaguar's XJ sedan posted a 22 percent increase in full year
sales following its mid-year introduction and Land Rover's
Range Rover achieved record sales of 12,086, up 41 percent.